MIRA INFORM REPORT

Report Date :

27.10.2014

IDENTIFICATION DETAILS

Name :	CHOICE DISCOUNT STORES LIMITED
Formerly Known As :	C & G LIMITED
Registered Office :	14-14A Rectory Road, Hadleigh Benfleet, Essex, SS7 2ND
Country :	United Kingdom
Financials (as on) :	25.01.2014
Date of Incorporation :	07.04.1983
Legal Form :	Private Limited With Share Capital
Line of Business :	Retailer of Clothing, Footwear and Home Furnishings.
No of Employees :	347

RATING & COMMENTS

MIRA’s Rating :

Ba

RATING		STATUS	PROPOSED CREDIT LINE
41-55	Ba	Overall operation is considered normal. Capable to meet normal commitments.	Satisfactory

Status :	Satisfactory
Payment Behaviour :	No Complaints
Litigation :	Clear

NOTES :

Any query related to this report can be made on e-mail : infodept@mirainform.com while quoting report number, name and date.

ECGC Country Risk Classification List – June 1, 2014

Country Name	Previous Rating (31.03.2014)	Current Rating (01.06.2014)
United Kingdom	A1	A1

Risk Category	ECGC Classification
Insignificant	A1
Low	A2
Moderate	B1
High	B2
Very High	C1
Restricted	C2
Off-credit	D

UNITED KINGDOM - ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is the third largest economy in Europe after Germany and France. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil resources, but its oil and natural gas reserves are declining and the UK became a net importer of energy in 2005. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, are key drivers of British GDP growth. Manufacturing, meanwhile, has declined in importance but still accounts for about 10% of economic output. After emerging from recession in 1992, Britain's economy enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record during which time growth outpaced most of Western Europe. In 2008, however, the global financial crisis hit the economy particularly hard, due to the importance of its financial sector. Falling home prices, high consumer debt, and the global economic slowdown compounded Britain's economic problems, pushing the economy into recession in the latter half of 2008 and prompting the then BROWN (Labour) government to implement a number of measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these included nationalizing parts of the banking system, temporarily cutting taxes, suspending public sector borrowing rules, and moving forward public spending on capital projects. Facing burgeoning public deficits and debt levels, in 2010 the CAMERON-led coalition government (between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) initiated a five-year austerity program, which aimed to lower London's budget deficit from about 11% of GDP in 2010 to nearly 1% by 2015. In November 2011, Chancellor of the Exchequer George OSBORNE announced additional austerity measures through 2017 largely due to the euro-zone debt crisis. The CAMERON government raised the value added tax from 17.5% to 20% in 2011. It has pledged to reduce the corporation tax rate to 21% by 2014. The Bank of England (BoE) implemented an asset purchase program of £375 billion (approximately $605 billion) as of December 2013. During times of economic crisis, the BoE coordinates interest rate moves with the European Central Bank, but Britain remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In 2012, weak consumer spending and subdued business investment weighed on the economy, however, in 2013 GDP grew 1.4%, accelerating unexpectedly in the second half of the year because of greater consumer spending and a recovering housing market. The budget deficit is falling but remains high at nearly 7% and public debt has continued to increase.

Source : CIA

REGISTERED NAME & COMPANY SUMMARY

CHOICE DISCOUNT STORES LIMITED

DIRECTORS/MANAGEMENT

Current Directors

Name	Cornelius George Donovan	Date of Birth	15/04/1934
Officers Title	Mr	Nationality	British
Present Appointments	6	Function	Director
Appointment Date	21/03/1992
Address	14-14a Rectory Road, Hadleigh Benfleet, Essex, SS7 2ND

Name	Kathleen Donovan	Date of Birth	22/04/1934
Officers Title	Mrs	Nationality	British
Present Appointments	3	Function	Director
Appointment Date	21/03/1992
Address	14-14a Rectory Road, Hadleigh Benfleet, Essex, SS7 2ND

Name	Mark Donovan	Date of Birth	10/10/1961
Officers Title	Mr	Nationality	British
Present Appointments	2	Function	Director
Appointment Date	21/03/1992
Address	14-14a Rectory Road, Hadleigh Benfleet, Essex, SS7 2ND

Name	David Wilson Keens	Date of Birth	16/08/1953
Officers Title	Mr	Nationality	British
Present Appointments	31	Function	Director
Appointment Date	21/03/1992
Address	14-14a Rectory Road, Hadleigh Benfleet, Essex, SS7 2ND

Name	Philip John Donovan	Date of Birth	22/07/1966
Officers Title	Mr	Nationality	British
Present Appointments	3	Function	Director
Appointment Date	13/03/2008
Address	14-14a Rectory Road, Hadleigh Benfleet, Essex, SS7 2ND

Name	Cornelius Andrew Donovan	Date of Birth	23/02/1970
Officers Title	Mr	Nationality	British
Present Appointments	1	Function	Director
Appointment Date	12/04/1995
Address	14-14a Rectory Road, Hadleigh Benfleet, Essex, SS7 2ND

Current Company Secretary

Name	William George Prentice	Date of Birth	21/08/1939
Officers Title	Mr	Nationality	British
Present Appointments	5	Function	Company Secretary
Appointment Date	01/03/1997
Address	14-14a Rectory Road, Hadleigh Benfleet, Essex, SS7 2ND

Previous Director/Company Secretaries

Name	Current Directorships	Previous Directorships
Joseph Dutton Lyons	3	6
Joseph Dutton Lyons	3	6
Peter John Chinnery	1	3
Robert John Harrison	2	9
David Cornelius Donovan	18	3

NEGATIVE INFORMATION

Mortgage Summary

Total Mortgage 4

Outstanding 0

Satisfied 4

Trade Debtors / Bad Debt Summary

Total Number of Documented Trade 0

Total Value of Documented Trade £0

CCJ

Total Number of Exact CCJs -	0	Total Value of Exact CCJs -
Total Number of Possible CCJs -	0	Total Value of Possible CCJs -
Total Number of Satisfied CCJs -	0	Total Value of Satisfied CCJs -
Total Number of Writs -	-

Mortgage Details

Mortgage Type:	MORTGAGE
Date Charge Created:	19/07/91
Date Charge Registered:	31/07/91
Date Charge Satisfied:	18/08/09
Status:	SATISFIED
Person(s) Entitled:	LLOYDS BANK PLC
Amount Secured:	ALL MONIES DUE OR TO BECOME DUE FROM THE COMPANY TO THE CHARGEE ON ANY ACCOUNT WHATSOEVER
Details:	14/20, RECTORY ROAD, HADLEIGH, BENFLEETESSEX.AND THE GOODWILL OF THE BUSINESSFLOATING CHARGE OVER ALL MOVEABLE PLANTMACHINERY IMPLEMENTS UTENSILS FURNITUREAND EQUIPMENT

Mortgage Type:	MORTGAGE
Date Charge Created:	16/01/91
Date Charge Registered:	25/01/91
Date Charge Satisfied:	18/08/09
Status:	SATISFIED
Person(s) Entitled:	LLOYDS BANK PLC
Amount Secured:	ALL MONIES DUE OR TO BECOME DUE FROM THE COMPANY TO THE CHARGEE ON ANY ACCOUNT WHATSOEVER
Details:	L/H COMMERCIAL SHOP AT UNIT 6A MAYFLOWER RETAIL PARK BASILDON ESSEX TOGETHER WITH A:-& GOODWILLFLOATING CHARGE OVER ALL MOVEABLE PLANTMACHINERY IMPLEMENTS UTENSILS FURNITUREAND EQUIPMENT

Mortgage Type:	MORTGAGE
Date Charge Created:	30/09/88
Date Charge Registered:	06/10/88
Date Charge Satisfied:	31/07/91
Status:	SATISFIED
Person(s) Entitled:	MICHAEL LEVY ALEXANDER
Amount Secured:	£500,000
Details:	14/20, RECTORY ROAD, HADLEIGH BENFLEET,ESSEX.

Mortgage Type:	MORTGAGE
Date Charge Created:	30/09/88
Date Charge Registered:	06/10/88
Date Charge Satisfied:	31/07/91
Status:	SATISFIED
Person(s) Entitled:	ANN ALEXANDER DEREK
Amount Secured:	£500,000
Details:	14/20, RECTORY ROAD, HADLEIGH BENFLEET,ESSEX.

Mortgage Type:	LEGAL CHARGE
Date Charge Created:	03/02/87
Date Charge Registered:	12/02/87
Date Charge Satisfied:	18/08/09
Status:	SATISFIED
Person(s) Entitled:	LLOYDS BANK PLC
Amount Secured:	ALL MONIES DUE OR TO BECOME DUE FROM THE COMPANY TO THE CHARGEE ON ANY ACCOUNT WHATSOEVER
Details:	F/H PROPERTY K/A NOS: 14 & 16 HIGH ST, GRAYS, ESSEXINC. GOODWILL.FLOATING CHARGE OVER ALL MOVEABLE PLANTMACHINERY IMPLEMENTS UTENSILS FURNITUREAND EQUIPMENT

SHARE & SHARE CAPITAL INFORMATION

Top 20 Shareholders

Name	Currency	Share Count	Share Type	Nominal Value	% of Total Share Count
DONOVAN TRADING LTD	GBP	300,000	ORDINARY	1	60
NEXT PLC	GBP	200,000	ORDINARY	1	40

PAYMENT INFORMATION

Average Invoice Value	£704.23
Invoices available	503
Paid	471
Outstanding	32

Trade Payment Data is information that we collect from selected third party partners who send us information about their whole sales ledger.

	Within Terms	0-30 Days	31-60 Days	61-90 Days	91+ Days
Paid	343	84	28	5	11
Outstanding	2	2	10	17	1

GROUP STRUCTURE & AFFILIATED COMPANIES

Statistics

Group	4 companies
Linkages	0 companies
Countries	In 0 countries

Summary

Holding Company	DONOVAN TRADING LIMITED
Ownership Status	Intermediately Owned
Ultimate Holding Company	DONOVAN TRADING LIMITED

Group structure

Company Name	Registered Number	Latest Key Financials	Consol. Accounts	Turnover
DONOVAN TRADING LIMITED	08114132	25.01.2014	Y	£25,542,000
CHOICE DISCOUNT STORES...	01712914	25.01.2014	N	£25,542,000
CHOICE FASHIONS LIMITED	00881757	31.01.2014	N
FAMOUS HIGH STREET F...	01454576	31.01.2014	N

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Profit & Loss

Date Of Accounts	25/01/14	(%)	26/01/13	(%)	28/01/12	(%)	29/01/11	(%)	30/01/10
Weeks	52	(%)	52	(%)	52	(%)	52	(%)	53
Currency	GBP	(%)	GBP	(%)	GBP	(%)	GBP	(%)	GBP
Consolidated A/cs	N	(%)	N	(%)	N	(%)	N	(%)	N
Turnover	£25,542,000	7.4%	£23,789,000	8.6%	£21,901,000	6.5%	£20,566,000	1.3%	£20,311,000
Export	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cost of Sales	£10,806,000	8%	£10,006,000	4.4%	£9,586,000	3.6%	£9,256,000	3.8%	£8,916,000
Gross Profit	£14,736,000	6.9%	£13,783,000	11.9%	£12,315,000	8.9%	£11,310,000	-0.7%	£11,395,000
Wages & Salaries	£6,507,000	10.2%	£5,906,000	-0.2%	£5,920,000	-0.4%	£5,941,000	-2.1%	£6,069,000
Directors Emoluments	£586,000	8.1%	£542,000	-32.1%	£798,000	-31.2%	£1,160,000	-17.9%	£1,413,000
Operating Profit	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	£291,000
Depreciation	£650,000	-4.3%	£679,000	3.7%	£655,000	12%	£585,000	17.5%	£498,000
Audit Fees	£20,000	-	£20,000	-	£20,000	-	£20,000	-	£20,000
Interest Payments	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Pre Tax Profit	£398,000	286.4%	£103,000	-82.5%	£588,000	167.3%	£220,000	-24.7%	£292,000
Taxation	-£136,000	-88.9%	-£72,000	63.1%	-£195,000	-170.8%	-£72,000	12.2%	-£82,000
Profit After Tax	£262,000	745.2%	£31,000	-92.1%	£393,000	165.5%	£148,000	-29.5%	£210,000
Dividends Payable	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Retained Profit	£262,000	745.2%	£31,000	-92.1%	£393,000	165.5%	£148,000	-29.5%	£210,000

Balance Sheet

Date Of Accounts	25/01/14	(%)	26/01/13	(%)	28/01/12	(%)	29/01/11	(%)	30/01/10
Tangible Assets	£3,588,000	22%	£2,940,000	-14.4%	£3,435,000	14.7%	£2,996,000	10.6%	£2,708,000
Intangible Assets	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0
Total Fixed Assets	£3,588,000	22%	£2,940,000	-14.4%	£3,435,000	14.7%	£2,996,000	10.6%	£2,708,000
Stock	£3,198,000	7.6%	£2,972,000	12.7%	£2,636,000	-4.8%	£2,769,000	5.8%	£2,616,000
Trade Debtors	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0
Cash	£2,016,000	52.8%	£1,319,000	-4.9%	£1,387,000	46.9%	£944,000	-32.4%	£1,396,000
Other Debtors	£834,000	20.9%	£690,000	-3.1%	£712,000	7.6%	£662,000	10.9%	£597,000
Miscellaneous Current Assets	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0
Total Current Assets	£6,048,000	21.4%	£4,981,000	5.2%	£4,735,000	8.2%	£4,375,000	-5.1%	£4,609,000
Trade Creditors	£1,287,000	62.7%	£791,000	-34.9%	£1,215,000	17.6%	£1,033,000	-5.9%	£1,098,000
Bank Loans & Overdrafts	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0
Other Short Term Finance	£727,000	136.8%	£307,000	-	0	-	0	-	0
Miscellaneous Current Liabilities	£3,215,000	20.1%	£2,678,000	-5.7%	£2,841,000	8.6%	£2,617,000	-1.1%	£2,646,000
Total Current Liabilities	£5,229,000	38.5%	£3,776,000	-6.9%	£4,056,000	11.1%	£3,650,000	-2.5%	£3,744,000
Bank Loans & Overdrafts and LTL	£40,000	-	£40,000	-	£40,000	-	£40,000	-	£40,000
Other Long Term Finance	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-	0
Total Long Term Liabilities	£40,000	-	£40,000	-	£40,000	-	£40,000	-	£40,000

Capital & Reserves

Date Of Accounts	25/01/14	(%)	26/01/13	(%)	28/01/12	(%)	29/01/11	(%)	30/01/10
Called Up Share Capital	£500,000	-	£500,000	-	£500,000	-	£500,000	-	£500,000
P & L Account Reserve	£3,867,000	7.3%	£3,605,000	0.9%	£3,574,000	12.4%	£3,181,000	4.9%	£3,033,000
Revaluation Reserve	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sundry Reserves	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shareholder Funds	£4,367,000	6.4%	£4,105,000	0.8%	£4,074,000	10.7%	£3,681,000	4.2%	£3,533,000

Other Financial Items

Date Of Accounts	25/01/14	(%)	26/01/13	(%)	28/01/12	(%)	29/01/11	(%)	30/01/10
Net Worth	£4,367,000	6.4%	£4,105,000	0.8%	£4,074,000	10.7%	£3,681,000	4.2%	£3,533,000
Working Capital	£819,000	-32%	£1,205,000	77.5%	£679,000	-6.3%	£725,000	-16.2%	£865,000
Total Assets	£9,636,000	21.7%	£7,921,000	-3%	£8,170,000	10.8%	£7,371,000	0.7%	£7,317,000
Total Liabilities	£5,269,000	38.1%	£3,816,000	-6.8%	£4,096,000	11%	£3,690,000	-2.5%	£3,784,000
Net Assets	£4,367,000	6.4%	£4,105,000	0.8%	£4,074,000	10.7%	£3,681,000	4.2%	£3,533,000

Cash Flow

Date Of Accounts	25/01/14	(%)	26/01/13	(%)	28/01/12	(%)	29/01/11	(%)	30/01/10
Net Cashflow from Operations	£2,097,000	599%	£300,000	-81.2%	£1,599,000	253%	£453,000	139.7%	£189,000
Net Cashflow before Financing	£697,000	999.9%	-£68,000	-115.3%	£443,000	198%	-£452,000	-425.6%	-£86,000
Net Cashflow from Financing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Increase in Cash	£697,000	999.9%	-£68,000	-115.3%	£443,000	198%	-£452,000	-425.6%	-£86,000

Miscellaneous

Date Of Accounts	25/01/14	(%)	26/01/13	(%)	28/01/12	(%)	29/01/11	(%)	30/01/10
Contingent Liability	YES	-	YES	-	YES	-	YES	-	YES
Capital Employed	£4,407,000	6.3%	£4,145,000	0.8%	£4,114,000	10.6%	£3,721,000	4.1%	£3,573,000
Number of Employees	347	6.1%	327	-34.1%	496	6%	468	4.7%	447
Auditors	GRANT THORNTON UK LLP
Auditor Comments	The audit report contains no adverse comments
Bankers	BARCLAYS BANK PLC
Bank Branch Code	20-70-93

Ratios

Date Of Accounts	25/01/14	26/01/13	28/01/12	29/01/11	30/01/10
Pre-tax profit margin %	1.56	0.43	2.68	1.07	1.44
Current ratio	1.16	1.32	1.17	1.20	1.23
Sales/Net Working Capital	31.19	19.74	32.25	28.37	23.48
Gearing %	0.90	1	1	1.10	1.10
Equity in %	45.30	51.80	49.90	49.90	48.30
Creditor Days	18.34	12.10	20.19	18.28	20.05
Debtor Days	-	-	-	-	-
Liquidity/Acid Test	0.54	0.53	0.51	0.44	0.53
Return On Capital Employed %	9.03	2.48	14.29	5.91	8.17
Return On Total Assets Employed %	4.13	1.30	7.19	2.98	3.99
Current Debt Ratio	1.19	0.91	0.99	0.99	1.05
Total Debt Ratio	1.20	0.92	1	1	1.07
Stock Turnover Ratio %	12.52	12.49	12.03	13.46	12.87
Return on Net Assets Employed %	9.11	2.50	14.43	5.97	8.26

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

N/a

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Status History

No Status History found

Event History

Date	Description
29/04/2014	New Accounts Filed
29/04/2014	New Accounts Filed
23/04/2014	Annual Returns
04/10/2013	New Accounts Filed
20/04/2013	Annual Returns
23/08/2012	New Accounts Filed
23/08/2012	New Accounts Filed
19/04/2012	Annual Returns
18/01/2012	Mr P.J. Chinnery has left the board
23/07/2011	New Accounts Filed
20/04/2011	Annual Returns
05/05/2010	New Accounts Filed
17/04/2010	Annual Returns
19/05/2009	New Accounts Filed
21/04/2009	Annual Returns

Previous Company Names

Date	Previous Name
15/08/1991	C & G LIMITED

NOTES & COMMENTS

Commentary

No exact match CCJs are recorded against the company.

Sales in the latest trading period increased 7.4% on the previous trading period.

Net Worth increased by 6.4% during the latest trading period.

A 21.7% growth in Total Assets occurred during the latest trading period.

Pre-tax profits increased by 286.4% compared to the previous trading period.

The company saw an increase in their Cash Balance of 52.8% during the latest trading period.

The audit report contains no adverse comments.

No recent changes in directorship are recorded.

The company is part of a group.

The company was established over 31 years ago.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

Currency	Unit	Indian Rupees
US Dollar	1	Rs.61.23
UK Pound	1	Rs.98.67
Euro	1	Rs.77.97

INFORMATION DETAILS

Analysis Done by :	DIV
Report Prepared by :	TPT

RATING EXPLANATIONS

RATING		STATUS	PROPOSED CREDIT LINE
>86	Aaa	Possesses an extremely sound financial base with the strongest capability for timely payment of interest and principal sums	Unlimited
71-85	Aa	Possesses adequate working capital. No caution needed for credit transaction. It has above average (strong) capability for payment of interest and principal sums	Large
56-70	A	Financial & operational base are regarded healthy. General unfavourable factors will not cause fatal effect. Satisfactory capability for payment of interest and principal sums	Fairly Large
41-55	Ba	Overall operation is considered normal. Capable to meet normal commitments.	Satisfactory
26-40	B	Capability to overcome financial difficulties seems comparatively below average.	Small
11-25	Ca	Adverse factors are apparent. Repayment of interest and principal sums in default or expected to be in default upon maturity	Limited with full security
<10	C	Absolute credit risk exists. Caution needed to be exercised	Credit not recommended
--	NB	New Business	--

This score serves as a reference to assess SC’s credit risk and to set the amount of credit to be extended. It is calculated from a composite of weighted scores obtained from each of the major sections of this report. The assessed factors and their relative weights (as indicated through %) are as follows:

Financial condition (40%) Ownership background (20%) Payment record (10%)

Credit history (10%) Market trend (10%) Operational size (10%)

PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL : This information is provided to you at your request, you having employed MIPL for such purpose. You will use the information as aid only in determining the propriety of giving credit and generally as an aid to your business and for no other purpose. You will hold the information in strict confidence, and shall not reveal it or make it known to the subject persons, firms or corporations or to any other. MIPL does not warrant the correctness of the information as you hold it free of any liability whatsoever. You will be liable to and indemnify MIPL for any loss, damage or expense, occasioned by your breach or non observance of any one, or more of these conditions

This report is issued at your request without any risk and responsibility on the part of MIRA INFORM PRIVATE LIMITED (MIPL) or its officials.